Tuesday

Jun 12, 2018 at 12:01 AMJun 12, 2018 at 1:04 PM

Except for those moviegoers who have memorized release dates of every film they’ve seen, it’s likely that no one else would guess it’s been 14 years since the world was treated to the world of the Oscar-winning “The Incredibles.” That’s a long wait to find out if something so terrific could get a follow-up that was even close in quality and enjoyability. Relax. Despite the fact that we at least have an idea of what’s coming from writer-director Brad Bird this time, the sequel is just as fresh and fun (and action-packed, and exciting and full of peril) as the original.

Storywise, it begins a few seconds after that one ended, picking up on the action-packed robbery being committed by the Underminer (John Ratzenberger), with the superhero-suited Parr family — Bob aka Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), Helen aka Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), Violet (Sarah Vowell), and Dash (Huck Milner) — assisted by their buddy Lucius Best aka Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), trying to foil it.

Superheroes are still illegal, based on a government decision made in the first film. All superhero agencies have been shut down, even the one that was protecting the Parrs, who are moved into a motel, where Bob and Helen realize that one of them has to get a job. Well, at least until Frozone gets them together with billionaire entrepreneur Winston Deaver (Bob Odenkirk) and his sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) who have an idea about how to change the public’s perception of superheroes, to once again get them seen as a positive force.

Both Parrs are thrilled at the prospect, but then only one of them is, after Winston explains he wants to work with Elastigirl first, leaving Mr. Incredible to stay home and take care of Violet, Dash and little Jack-Jack.

Yes, it’s another tale of role reversal, of the woman doing what’s traditionally been the man’s job. But hold on, even though Elastigirl was at home more than Mr. Incredible in the first film, she also ended up saving his tail. And don’t for a moment think that Brad Bird is jumping on some feminist bandwagon here. He was already working on this script and that storyline years before there was a “Ghostbusters” reboot, a “Wonder Woman,” and an “Ocean’s 8.” If you want to label him, do it with the word prescient.

But Winston Deaver’s shrewd decision to put Helen in the driver’s seat — of her hot new motorcycle — then ship her off to find and fight crime in another city as “an advocate for superheroes — puts Bob into an ego-bruised funk. He’s a good dad, but he craves the action he used to see when he wasn’t busy being a homebody.

Brad Bird likes to tell complicated stories. A really shiny gem in this one harkens back to the original, where the audience and one of the eventually dispatched villains got to see that Jack-Jack had some special powers of his own, something that no one else in his family knew about (Can you say polymorph?). Oh, but they sure do find out in this one, as does a malicious raccoon in one of the film’s best comedic sequences.

But “Incredibles 2” is not just about family issues and secrets. It’s got vile villains, and nods to pop culture (YouTube the opening credits to the ’60s TV show “The Outer Limits” before seeing it) and a big, fast musical score by Michael Giacchino — who also scored the original — to accompany the wild visuals. No surprise, it also features a welcome return by “super clothing designer” Edna Mode (Brad Bird).

This really is everything you could hope for in a sequel. Warning to parents: It also has some ingredients that are, to quote Mr. Bird, “a little intense.” It was Bird, himself, in a recent interview, who suggested that some 5-year-olds can handle it, but some can’t, then added, “You may want your kids to be a little bit older before they see it.”

— Ed Symkus writes about movies for More Content Now. He can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.